The music of Rumi
Listen to the reed and the tale it tells,
How it sings of separation...
The music of Rumi is...
- music of his poetry (the sound of language itself, in the original Persian)
- music as metaphor in his poetry (music, instruments, musicians...)
- music of the performed Rumi text
- music as a metaphor for the performance of all mystical love texts
- music as metaphor for the ritual experience of Rumi's poetry, for Rumi as Mevlana, as saint
- music as metaphor for mystical experience and spirituality generally
- music as metaphor for the harmonious machinery of the cosmos, the synchrony of micro/macrocosm, the mutual whirling of human and universe...
Concert sketch:
PART I
Blackout....Swirling nay emerges, followed by deep-toned bendir/tar (fades in); recitation of Rumi's Masnavi in Persian (2 lines) enters, followed by English, theme of the nay, the reed-bed...tar fades out...
Trio (Regula, Vinod, Michael) accompanies more recitation, theme of music...perhaps tar reenters at some point...then move to
Geha's dance recitations, part I, with musical accompaniment, then
Whirling dervishes projected onto screen (run throughout, but sound down) while next group sets up, with transition to
Indian ensemble performance, followed by
Rumi poetry recitation (just 2 minutes) in Persian then English with nay and tar, theme of love, with transition to
Arab ensemble (containing Persian ensemble subgroup where Rumi's poetry is actually performed)
---start intermission---
(let video of whirling dervishes run with sound up)
---end intermission---
PART II
Geha's dance recitations, part II (with musical accompaniment) opens second half, Recitation (focus on ecstatic dance) with nay and tar, transition to
Kreisha's performance
More Rumi recitation with nay and tar, themes of ecstasy of the dance, then transition to
African ensemble
Final Rumi recitations - short poem --- concludes the program.
